The present invention generally relates to speaker apparatus and, in a preferred embodiment thereof, more particularly relates to coneless sound transducer devices of the general type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,749 to Ries; U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,007 to Thielen; U.S. Pat. No. 3,524,027 to Thurston et al; U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,870 to Rivera; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,497 to Komatsu.
Coneless dynamic speakers, as representatively illustrated and described in the U.S. patents listed above, are well known in the speaker art and are typically connectable to a relatively large structure, such as one of the walls in a room, and operable to use such structure as a diaphragm in place of a paper cone diaphragm disposed within the speaker housing. In response to electrical input signals transmitted to a voice coil within the speaker housing, mechanical sound energy is created within the housing and is transmitted outwardly to the wall which serves, in effect, as a greatly enlarged version of the sound cone omitted from the speaker. The use of the wall structure as a diaphragm creates within the room a substantially enlarged sound output pattern compared to the usual paper cone disposed within a speaker housing.
While coneless type dynamic speakers of this general type are well known in the audio art they typically have associated therewith various well know problems, limitations and disadvantages including mechanical complexity, relatively high fabrication and assembly costs, and sound distortion in certain frequency ranges. In view of these problems, limitations and disadvantages it is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an improved coneless speaker of the type generally described above.